One-Shot: Wendy's Mother, the Demolitionist
by TheOptimisticSpectator
Summary: In this short story on Gravity Falls, Dipper gets to meet the eccentric mother of Wendy! A renowned demolitionist, she is sure to have an interesting background! This story was requested by a user who wishes to remain anonymous.


**The Demolitionist**

"My gosh, Mabel, would you look at the size of that ant?"

"Holy moly, that thing is huge!"

Indeed it was. The twins, who had decided to take a leisurely walk outside of the Mystery Shack, had stumbled upon a rather large ant, which was crawling along the side of a small pond. From what Dipper estimated, it was about the size of an iPhone, so that he could even see its tiny mandibles. Unlike most young teenagers, the twins were not particularly scared of insects.

Dipper wanted to go and check out in further detail, but he knew that doing so would just run off the ant.

 _Or would it?_ He thought. _Does a bigger size equate to more courage?_

Regardless, he didn't want to disturb the ant, which had seemed to stumble upon an equally large sugar cube. At this point, Dipper was a bit concerned as to why there were so many oversized entities as of late.

"Hey, Dipper, just the guy I wanted to see!"

Dipper turned his head to see Wendy trotting her way down the grassy knoll that the twins were wandering on. Dipper felt his heart pound. Despite the age difference between him and Wendy, it was inevitable for him to feel such a way for her. There was just something about her that made him feel so...jittery inside.

As she came up close, she waved to Mabel, who gave her classic goofy smile, and waved back. Wendy then focused on Dipper, who was shifting around slightly in nervousness.

"Hey dude, so I was planning on going fishing, and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along. I heard you were a pretty good fisher, after all, from what happened at the lake last time."

 _YES!_ Dipper thought in excitement. He made sure to quell his outburst, or he would surely embarrass himself in front of Wendy.

"Uh-"

He cleared his throat.

"S-sure."

"Cool, let's go."

"Wait, right now?!"

Wendy flashed him a smile.

"Of course, dude. You think I schedule what I do?"

"Touche."

Dipper turned to his sister, who smiled at him.

"It's fine, Dipper, go. I'll keep watching this ant. Who knows, there might be a whole colony of these giants!"

Dipper grinned, then turned around and gestured for Wendy to lead the way.

* * *

"I see why you truly brought me to the lake, now…"

"Oh, shut up, dude."

After an hour or so of fishing, Dipper had found that there were few fish out and about. He had caught something earlier, and was excited to impress Wendy with his catch, but upon reeling it up, he was disappointed to find it to be a catfish.

"Well, this isn't so bad…" Dipper's words trailed off, leaving Wendy to give him an odd look.

"What do you mean."

 _Crap_ , Dipper thought, immediately regretting what he had said.

"Well, I-I meant-"

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!**_

Dipper's nearly went deaf as an ear-shattering explosion went off nearby, sending a tidal wave of water towards the canoe they were in.

"Oh crap, NOOOO-"

As the tidal wave upturned the canoe, both Wendy and Dipper were thrown into the water, crashing into the clear blue lake.

Eventually, Dipper resurfaced, and looked over to his left to see Wendy, who was oddly grinning for some reason.

"Of course, that must be her."

 _Booooooommmm._

Further off in the distance, another explosion was heard, but fainter. Dipper began to swim towards the edge of the lake, clinging onto the shoreline in desperation. Wendy swam up and onto the grass, then moved over and pulled up Dipper.

"What the heck was that?!" Dipper exclaimed, looking back at where the sound of the explosions came from.

Suddenly, he heard Wendy laugh.

"You wouldn't believe this, dude, but that was my mom."

That answer prompted a perplexed expression from Dipper, and Wendy rolled her eyes.

"Come on. I'll show you."

* * *

 _Note to self: hiking while soaking wet is not a good idea,_ Dipper thought to himself exhaustively.

They had to run quite a ways before Wendy finally stopped in front of a construction site. Dipper came to a stop as well, planting his hands on his knees as he wheezed, very much fatigued from the mile run. The water that had gotten on him added extra weight, since his clothes had soaked it up, which made the run that much harder.

"Hold on a second, dude."

With that remark, Wendy went up to the yellow tape that marked the construction zone and crouched under it, using her hand to push up the tape to make room. Dipper's eyes followed her as she went over to a construction man with a list in his hands. After a few moments of chatter, the construction worker grinned and nodded. Wendy looked back at Dipper and waved her hand towards herself, gesturing that he should come over.

He did so, and ran over, crossing the line, keeping up with Wendy as she strode towards one particular part of the construction site.

"I said four sticks, not six, Gary-"

 _ **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!**_

"...Dang it, Gary!"

Suddenly, the same deafening explosion that Dipper had heard earlier went off once again, the shockwaves sending vibrations through the ground beneath his feet. He staggered around, trying to gain his footing as the very earth below him shook violently.

Slowly, it faded away.

"What in the blazes was that?"

Wendy brought her hand up, pointing at one particular individual with a beret on, who was yelling at one of the construction workers. Dipper leaned in to whisper in Wendy's ear.

"Why is there an artist at a construction site?"

"Dunno. Wanna go find out, little dude?"

A bit nervous, yet intrigued, he nodded, and began making his way over. Wendy kept alongside him as they approached the figure.

"Hey, mom."

With that, the individual in the beret turned around, and Dipper was struck with confusion as he looked over the woman.

Despite having a petite frame and a feminine look, she still looked like she was born and lived outdoors. In fact, everything about her screamed 'the outdoors is the only doors'. Her green eyes looked me over through a pair of small eyeglasses, and her auburn hair was tied back in a ponytail. She sported a forest green checkered shirt and a pair of blue jeans, which were tucked into some brown heavy-duty boots. In her mouth was a fat cigar, which was emitting smoke out of the end. And of course, to top it all off, on her head was a red beret, which was tilted slightly to the right.

"Well, hey there, my little firecracker! How ya doin'?"

Wendy grinned, walking over and hugging her mom.

"I'm doing fine right now, mom. Just glad to see you're hard at work."

Dipper noticed the woman's mouth beginning to shake. After a couple seconds, she then burst out laughing, planting her hands on her knees as she continued to guffaw.

"I saw you guys get thrown back by that tidal wave, and I doubled over crying in laughter! Heck, I almost blew my laugh box just thinking about that just now! That was freakin' hilarious!"

"Hilarious."

Dipper didn't find the same humor that she did in the joke. Wendy couldn't resist cracking a smile, though.

"Anyways, who's this young man you've brought here, Wendy?"

Wendy waved her hand in a dramatic fashion as she introduced me.

"Mom, this is Dipper."

The woman's face lit up like a light bulb.

"Oh, Dipper! Yeah, you wrote me a ton of letters about this fella, how he was investigating mysteries and stuff. Well, it's nice to meet ya, Dipper!"

She brought her hand forward for a handshake, which Dipper accepted politely, grinning.

"Nice to meet you too…."

"The name's Katrina, fella. Katrina Corduroy, expert demolitionist."

Dipper was quite impressed by the title she added on at the end.

"Wait, so you're a demolitionist? That's pretty cool!"

Katrina nodded, grinning. "Not just cool, fella, but an art form, and one that I've been trying to perfect for years now! It's the reason I wear this beret now, instead of that trapper hat."

She pointed to the hat that Wendy was wearing.

"Wait, that hat is yours?"

Katrina nodded.

"Used to fancy myself as a quaint hunter, till one day I was messing around with a stick o' dynamite I had found in a bear cave. Nearly blew myself up, but it was so exciting, I decided to pursue a career in the field!"

Dipper was amazed by the woman in front of her, not just because of what she had said, but also how strikingly similar she was to Wendy. Their faces, tones of voice, mannerisms - it was like seeing an adult Wendy.

"I can't believe that you guys look so similar!" Dipper just had to make the comment. Upon hearing the remark, Katrina's smile shined brightly, and she wrapped one arm around Wendy in pride.

"Well, this is my flesh and blood, after all. I couldn't be helped to have a more amazing daughter."

"Mom, stop…"

Wendy seemed embarrassed by her commentary, but Katrina just laughed in response.

"There ain't no shame in saying that, my little firecracker! It's truer than the sun comes up every mornin'!"

Dipper couldn't help but smile at that. He was intrigued by this woman, and it made sense that someone as ecstatic as her would not only be Wendy's mother, but have a profession and personality that mirrored hers.

Katrina finally unwrapped her arm around her daughter and began walking towards the the other end of the construction site, waving her arm to the two.

"Come with me, you two. I wanna show you something."

They began to follow. Dipper witnessed Katrina take the fat cigar out of her mouth and bring it up to an open fuse. The fuse lit and began traveling down the line, heading into a cave and out of sight.

"BOMBERMAN!" She bellowed in that direction, and the construction workers around that area scuffled away, before another giant explosion went off, furiously shaking the ground once again. Katrina looked back at the two, flashing a smile.

"That's the demolitionist version of 'Timber!'"

Dipper was starting to have doubts about the mental state of this woman.

After a few minutes of walking, entering through the woods, they arrived upon a large building being constructed. The sign on the front stated 'Gravity Falls Endangered Animals Sanctuary'. Dipper tilted my head oddly at the sight of it.

"I didn't know there was a sanctuary in this town."

"There is now." She remarked, walking up to the side of the sanctuary. "When I came into town, I decided it was missing something charitable. I do this with every town I operate in, if it's necessary to help donate to a good cause. I make a lot of money from demolition, since there is a lot that needs to be razed in this expansive world. Clearing for suburban neighborhoods, mining, etcetera." She rubbed the back of her head, her eyes flicking to the side. "Some people consider me to be the villain, since I often have to clear away forestry and such for the job."

Dipper was surprised by this, but it made sense. There was no doubt that someone with a job such as hers would get flak.

"But no matter." She said, smiling purely. "That's why I put most of my money towards charitable events. Usually, to signal the opening of such buildings or events, I often stuff myself in a cannon and have myself fired out of it."

Dipper was taken aback by that comment. She said it so nonchalantly, as if she was talking about getting a sandwich.

"Y-you fire yourself...out of a _cannon_?"

Katrina grinned, nodding.

"It's kind of symbolic, in a way." She remarked. She didn't bother to say what kind of symbolism it was, but Dipper didn't really want to press further on the topic.

"Katrina! We need you to light this cavern up!"

Katrina looked back at a construction worker, smiling as she turned back to Dipper and Wendy.

"Welp, i'll catch you guys later, I've got a landscape to paint. Maybe we can get lunch later, and you guys can tell me more about what you've done in this place for the past year."

Dipper nodded, smiling at her. With that, Katrina turned on one heel, then began swaggering back to the construction site. Dipper looked over at Wendy.

"Your mother is pretty interesting, to say the least."  
Wendy laughed, sensing the skeptical undertone from Dipper.

"She definitely is. Don't worry, she's not this odd most of the time. She just has a strong passion for her job."

Dipper could empathize with that. He himself had a passion for exploration of the unknown, which is why he was looking into a degree in college for aerodynamics, so he could help astronauts explore space. He often got so wrapped up in his passion that it made him act weird at times with others.

"Welp, I think i'm gonna check on Mabel. Catch you later."

"See ya, dude."

With that, Dipper made his way back towards his sister, whistling a tune as he looked over the lake.

 _What a woman_ , he thought.

* * *

 _Boom._

"My gosh, can they STOP?!"

"I second that…"

For hours now, Dipper and Mabel had to listen to the occasional, far-off explosions from the construction site. At first, they found it to be pretty cool, as if a giant robot was stomping his feet across the landscape. However, as they tried to focus on certain tasks, the faint explosions would often throw them off from their task, much to their annoyance. After about 2 hours, it was similar to listening to the same song incessantly. The twins were getting sick of it.

"Maybe it'll end soon…"

"Dipper, it's been going on for HOURS now! The only way they would stop at this point is if they blew up the wrong-"

 _ **BOOM!**_

This explosion sounded much closer, and immediately following it was the rumbling of the ground. However, it lasted much longer, like an earthquake. This alarmed Dipper greatly, as he was used to only a short duration of rumbling.

Running out of the house, he spotted a part of a nearby cliff breaking off and falling from the rest of the rock structure in the distance. He could hear it crackle across the landscape.

"This is not good."

In the distance, he could hear screaming and panicking from afar.

"This is REALLY not good!"  
He began to make his way over in haste.

After around 5 minutes or so of full-on sprinting, his adrenaline pumping through his veins, he finally came to a stop.

"The sanctuary!"

To his great distress, the sanctuary for animals, which already had animals inside even though it wasn't completely built yet, had a giant rock implode into the roof. Inside, the sound of panicking animals was clear from where Dipper was standing.

To his far right, he could see several construction men and people unconscious. Dipper was not sure how they got knocked out, but he didn't have time for that. They were being tended to, but no one was seeming to assist the animals inside the building.

Thus, in a display of reckless bravery, Dipper ran inside, picking up small cages of animals and hauling them out in batches. For the bigger animals, he took up a wrench and broke the locks, allowing them to run free out of the crumbling complex.

After a couple minutes, Dipper had managed to free the vast majority of the creatures. However, as he was about to make his way out, he spotted in the corner a ferret, its leg injured by a flying rock. It cowered against its cage, terrified of the surrounding decrepit structure.

"No man - or animal - left behind." Dipper shouted, as he ran over, dodging falling rocks and crumbling floor around him, reaching the ferret. He grabbed the cage, and began to make his way out when a giant boulder crashed in front of the entrance.

"Crap!"

Dipper looked around frantically, one arm occupied with holding the cage. He had considered releasing the ferret, but he wasn't sure if it could find a way out on its own.

Dipper looked upwards, and noticed an open hole in the ceiling. Conveniently, there were stones stacked on top of each other, allowing for a passage up to the hole.

He hesitated for a moment, his adrenaline ramping up through his body. This was a life or death situation. If he couldn't get out, there was the chance that he would get crushed beneath the stone.

Steadying his breathing, Dipper thought back on all the moments of life and death he had faced in the past.

 _No matter_ , he thought. _This is nothing compared to my past challenges_.

With that steadfast resolve, Dipper began to make his way up the stones, straining to climb with one hand while holding the ferret's cage with the other.

Within the last second, Dipper had managed to climb out of the building and onto the roof. He looked down at the lake that budded against the building.

"Let's GOOOOO!"

He jumped off the building just as it all imploded, and slammed into the water below. After spending a few moments below the water, he swam upwards, gasping for air as it had been knocked out of him. He then swam over to the ridgeline, clinging to it desperately.

Luckily, a couple townsmen and women came over and pulled him up, one of them picking up the ferret cage and hugging it while sobbing.

"Harry! Oh thank goodness you're alive!"

Finally, after pulling him up and clear of the waterline, they laid him down, and he laid against the concrete of the road that ran parallel to the lake.

"I'm alive." Dipper stated in relief, more so in confidence than in disbelief.

After a few moments of recuperation, Dipper got up, looking around.

"What happened?!"

One of the townsmen came forward and answered.

"The warehouse for our explosives suddenly blew up, and we don't know how!"

 _Then maybe you shouldn't keep a warehouse purely for explosives_ , Dipper thought to himself.

"Well, I gotta say, kid, you did some pretty heroic stuff earlier," One townswoman said in amazement. "We all saw you dive into that crumbling mess and save all those animals. I think some gratitude is overdue, bud."

The townspeople around Dipper nodded and cheered. Dipper smiled nervously.

"Well, before we do that, I gotta go talk to someone."

He got up and made his way over to the construction site, leaving behind the cheering masses.

* * *

Dipper came up to see Wendy holding the hand of a very injured Katrina, who had bandaging wrapped around her head, hands, legs, and parts of her torso. She looked absolutely forlorn.

"Ms. Corduroy."

Katrina looked up, then averted her eyes in shame. Wendy stayed silent.

"I think we both know who caused that explosion."

Katrina nodded without saying anything.

"I...I'm so sorry, Dipper….the cigar, I guess it just…"

She took a moment, cupping her hand over her mouth as she began to cry.

"My bloated confidence put everyone in danger...I can't believe that happened….I'm so sorry…"

Dipper's anger faded almost immediately upon seeing the remorseful Katrina. Sure, she needed to pay in some way for what she did, but he couldn't help but feel bad for her. After all, Dipper could have been in the same situation, if he had done some of the things that he did in the past wrong.

"Look, it may be your fault, but...if you pay back the town for the damage, I think they'll forget about it. After all, aside from a town building and some trees, it really only affected the sanctuary that you were trying build."

Katrina nodded, still melancholy from her actions.

"I'll absolutely pay it back."

"Okay…"

Dipper was happy that the situation had been completely resolved, but he couldn't help but feel that she still felt terrible from the situation.

* * *

The next day, without a word, Katrina had left, much to Wendy's anger and misery. For the following week, Dipper hadn't seen her outside at all. He wondered where she had gone, but he didn't want to bother her.

He sat on the edge of the pond, his feet hovering only inches above the water. He looked down into the pond, wondering about all kinds of different things. From what he had heard, full reparations were paid fully, and even some generous extra. However, not even a note was left behind of the demolitionist.

After looking up Katrina, he had found that the woman had had similar incidents in the past years, from all around the country. Every single time, the mistakes were fixed, but Katrina had left a day or two immediately after the incident. Dipper wasn't sure why that was, but it made him sad.

She seemed so happy, so full of life…

 _She must have a problem_ , Dipper thought morosely. That could have been the case, but at this point Dipper would never know….

Not unless….

….This short story got at least 5 reviews…

...Then maybe there would even be a series behind this….

...But I guess we'll never know until then….

...It's up to **you**.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

\- If this story gets popular reception, there will be a series.

But that's really up to you, isn't it?


End file.
